Stuck? Roll Some Dice – Spark Ideas, Kill Writers Block

Tools of the Trade

I’ve been using a lot of accessories for writing and adventure design lately, among my many tools, a few of my favorites have been the Fourthcore Alphabet and the Deck of Many Things from Madness at Gardmore Abbey. I’ve also been using some miscellaneous bits on things like cryptography, numerology, and puzzles from online sources. Using stuff like this makes for a really interesting mix of dungeon scenarios, plot hooks, fun challenges, and lots of other stuff.

Story Cubes

But what about simple tools? Things that aren’t specifically geared towards gamers nescessarily? Well I’ve got those too, and I want to talk about two of them today – Writer’s Dice and Rory’s Story Cubes. These are both really great tools not only for writers block, or quick ideas but they are also great for designing an entire mini-adventure, or taking turns rolling dice to get a child’s imagination to run wild by building a collaborative story with them. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, I’m just grabbing ideas from some of the dice seen in this photo:

“Every 300 years at midnight, on the night when Merlin’s comet streaks across the sky, will the magical tower be able to be unlocked. A magical eye sees all who attempt to enter, and will strike down those is disapproves of with bolts of lightning. Stowed away inside this tower is a sentient book who’s pages can only be read by the those who successfully solve its riddle of chaos. Those who fail will remain frozen in time until the next passing of the comet.”

Writer’s Dice

Writer’s Dice seem to compliment the story cubes perfectly, created by Daniel Solis as a kickstarter project – these little things can surprisingly spark away cases of pretty bad writer’s block. Use them when you’re at a loss for words, when you’re not sure what should come next, or various other situations which I’m sure I’m not even thinking of right now. There’s also a mobile app for Writer’s Dice for those of you who who prefer to virtually roll dice (heretics) for Android, iOS, and Windows mobile that you can pick up for $1.

Few Dice, Endless Possibilities

I did a short video on the cubes and the writer’s dice if you’d like to check them out in a more intimate manner. I really enjoy using both of these tools when playing with my kids, dreaming up adventures, writing stories, or even designing dungeons. I hope that maybe they could help you guys too. That’s it for now, in the meantime keep those ideas flowing, and happy gaming!